American-born Olympic athlete Eileen Gu has the sads over the criticism she’s facing for competing on behalf of China.
After competing this Thursday in Italy in skiing, she was asked by leftist reporters whether she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics at the moment,” according to USA Today.
“I do,” Gu replied. “So many athletes compete for a different country. … People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.”
“And also, because I win. Like if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions,” she added.
As a reminder, China is one of America’s top geopolitical foes.
NBC‘s social media properties are promoting Eileen Gu as much if not more than team USA athletes.
Eileen Gu was born, raised, and trained in America, has an American father, goes to Stanford…
But renounced her US citizenship and skis for China because the CCP paid her to. https://t.co/R3NB8knWxL
— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) February 10, 2026
She was questioned about the criticism she’s been facing after Vice President J.D. Vance ever so slightly bashed her earlier in the week.
“I certainly think that somebody who grew up in the United States of America, who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place, I would hope that they want to compete with the United States of America,” he told Fox News.
“So, I’m going to root for American athletes, and I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for this Olympics,” he added.
In response, a thousand and one leftist media outlets that evidently hate America rushed to defend Gu.
While the US media prompts and encourages American Olympic athletes to criticize the United States, Eileen Gu, who was born in the United States, but instead chose to compete for communist China, is never asked hard questions about China & is treated as a heroine. pic.twitter.com/TR8HHgGOyQ
— The Conservative Read (@theconread) February 15, 2026
On the other end of the spectrum is Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu, the American-born daughter of Arthur Liu, a man who reportedly went into exile from China at the age of 25 due to the persecution he faced for participating in the 1989 Democracy Movement.
Liu is proudly representing the United States at this year’s Olympics.
Watch below as her father proudly gripped an American flag as she won Olympic gold:
🚨AMAZING: Beautiful moment as Alysa Liu’s father gripping the American flag with overwhelming pride celebrating his daughter’s Olympic gold. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zbvzicjjfJ
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) February 20, 2026
Gold dress. Golden Performance. Gold Medal. Alysa Liu.. Golden girl! 👏🥇✨#FigureSkating #MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/BOuQOssYhW
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) February 20, 2026
On Thursday, she became the first American woman to claim gold in figure skating in 24 years.
“Her gold is a first for an American in an individual event since Nathan Chen’s triumph at Beijing 2022,” according to Olympics.com. “While Hughes was the last American woman to top the podium in 2002, Liu becomes the first American female to nab any individual medal at the Games since Sasha Cohen won bronze at Torino 2006.”
Critics say that Liu is a patriot, whereas Gu is a traitor.
Alysa Liu is a patriot vs. Eileen Gu is a traitor. https://t.co/nFl3KsLErH pic.twitter.com/QnAOpcEb6X
— Solomon Yue (@SolomonYue) February 13, 2026
The late Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, also viewed Gu as a traitor:
Eileen Gu, a Chinese-American Olympic Freestyle Skier who trained her whole life in America, renounced her US citizenship to compete for China in the Olympics.
Eileen Gu is a traitor and this is akin to treason. She should never be able to enter the United States again.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 4, 2022
Watch Liu’s latest performance below:
🇺🇸 THE ULTIMATE AMERICAN REVENGE STORY 🇺🇸
The script couldn’t have written it better. In 1989, Arthur Liu fled China as a political refugee after the Tiananmen Square massacre. He came to America with nothing but a dream for a free life.
Decades later, his daughter Alysa Liu… pic.twitter.com/VH6ScPB9Cu— Afshine Emrani MD FACC (@afshineemrani) February 20, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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